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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Nahum III].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC34002.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N A H U M.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter goes on with the burden of Nineveh, and concludes it.
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I. The sins of that great city are charged upon it, murder
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:1">ver. 1</A>),
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whoredom and witchcraft
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:4">ver. 4</A>),
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and a general extent of wickedness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:19">ver. 19</A>.
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II. Judgments are here threatened against it, blood for blood
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>),
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and shame for shameful sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>.
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III. Instances are given of the like desolations brought upon other
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places for the like sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>.
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IV. The overthrow of all those things which they depended upon, and
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put confidence in, is foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:12-19">ver. 12-19</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Na3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Judgment of Nineveh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Woe to the bloody city! it <I>is</I> all full of lies <I>and</I>
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robbery; the prey departeth not;
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2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the
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wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
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3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the
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glittering spear: and <I>there is</I> a multitude of slain, and a
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great number of carcases; and <I>there is</I> none end of <I>their</I>
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corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
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4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured
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harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through
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her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
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5 Behold, I <I>am</I> against thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts; and I
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will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the
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nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
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6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee
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vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.
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7 And it shall come to pass, <I>that</I> all they that look upon
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thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who
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will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Nineveh arraigned and indicted. It is a high charge that is here
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drawn up against that great city, and neither her numbers nor her
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grandeur shall secure her from prosecution.
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1. It is a <I>city of blood,</I> in which a great deal of innocent
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blood is shed by unrighteous war, or under colour and pretence of
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public justice, or by suffering barbarous murders to go unpunished; for
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this the righteous God will make inquisition.
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2. <I>It is all full of lies;</I> truth is banished from among them;
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there is no such thing as honesty; one knows not whom to believe nor
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whom to trust.
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3. It is all full of <I>robbery</I> and rapine; no man cares what
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mischief he does, nor to whom he does it: <I>The prey departs not,</I>
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that is, they never know when they have got enough by spoil and
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oppression. They shed blood, and told lies, in pursuit of the prey,
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that they might enrich themselves.
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4. There is a <I>multitude of whoredoms</I> in it, that is, idolatries,
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spiritual whoredoms, by which she defiled herself, and to which she
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seduced the neighbouring nations, as a well-favoured harlot, and sold
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and ruined <I>nations through her whoredoms.</I>
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5. She is a <I>mistress of witchcrafts,</I> and by them she <I>sells
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families,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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That which Nineveh aimed at was a universal monarchy, to be the
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metropolis of the world, and to have all her neighbours under her feet;
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to compass this, she used not only arms, but arts, compelling some,
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deluding others, into subjection to her, and wheedling them as a harlot
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by her charms to lay their necks under her yoke, suggesting to them
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that it would be for their advantage. She courted them to join with her
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in her idolatrous rites, to tie them the faster to her interests, and
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made use of her wealth, power, and greatness, to draw people into
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alliances with her, by which she gained advantages over them, and made
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a hand of them. These were her whoredoms, like those of Tyre,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+23:15,17">Isa. xxiii. 15, 17</A>.
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These were her witchcrafts, with which she unaccountably gained
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dominion. And for this that God has a quarrel with her who, having
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<I>made of one blood all nations of men,</I> never designed one to be a
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nation of tyrants and another of slaves, and who claims it as his own
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prerogative to be universal Monarch.</P>
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<P>
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II. Nineveh condemned to ruin upon this indictment. Woe to this bloody
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city!
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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See what this woe is.</P>
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<P>
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1. Nineveh had with her cruelties been a terror and destruction to
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others, and therefore destruction and terror shall be brought upon her.
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Those that are for overthrowing all that come in their way will, sooner
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or later, meet with their match.
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(1.) Hear the alarm with which Nineveh shall be terrified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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It is a formidable army that advances against it; you may hear them at
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a distance, the <I>noise of the whip,</I> driving the chariot-horses
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with fury; you may hear the noise of the <I>rattling of the wheels, the
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prancing horses, and the jumping chariots;</I> the very noise is
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frightful, but much more so when they know that all this force is
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coming with all this speed against them, and they are not able to make
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head against it.
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(2.) See the slaughter with which Nineveh shall be laid waste
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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the sword drawn with which execution shall be done, <I>the bright sword
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lifted up and the glittering spear,</I> the dazzling brightness of
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which is very terrible to those whom they are lifted up against. See
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what havoc these make when they are commissioned to slay: <I>There is a
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great number of carcases,</I> for the slain of the land shall be many;
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<I>there is no end of their corpses;</I> there is such <I>a multitude
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of slain</I> that it is in vain to go about to take the number of them;
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they lie so thick that passengers are ready to stumble <I>upon their
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corpses</I> at every step. The destruction of Sennacherib's army,
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which, in the morning, were <I>all dead corpses,</I> is perhaps looked
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upon here as a figure of the like destruction that should afterwards be
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in Nineveh; for those that will not take warning by judgments at a
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distance shall have them come nearer.</P>
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<P>
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2. Nineveh had with her whoredoms and witchcrafts drawn others to
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shameful wickedness, and therefore God will load her with shame and
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contempt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>):
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<I>The Lord of hosts</I> is <I>against her,</I> and then she shall be
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exposed to the highest degree of disgrace and ignominy, shall not only
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lose all her charms, but shall be made to appear very odious. When it
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shall be seen that while she courted her neighbours it was with design
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to ruin their liberty and property, when all her wicked artifices shall
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be brought to light, then her <I>shame is discovered to the
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nations.</I> When her proud pretensions are baffled, and her vain
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towering hopes of an absolute and universal dominion brought to nought,
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and she appears not to have been so strong and considerable as she
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would have been thought to be, then <I>to see the nakedness of the land
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do they come,</I> and it appears ridiculous. Then do they <I>cast
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abominable filth upon her,</I> as upon a carted strumpet, and <I>make
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her vile</I> as the offscouring of all things; that great city, which
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all nations had made court to and coveted an alliance with, has become
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a gazing-stock, a laughing stock. Those that formerly looked upon her,
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and fled to her, in hopes of protection from her, now <I>look upon her
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and flee from her,</I> for fear of being ruined with her. Note, Those
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that abuse their honour and interest will justly be disgraced and
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abandoned, and, because miserable, will be made contemptible, and
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thereby be made more miserable. When Nineveh is laid waste <I>who will
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bemoan her?</I> Her trouble will be so great, and her sense of it so
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deep, as not to admit relief from sympathy, or any comforting
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considerations; or, if it would, none shall do any such good office:
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<I>When shall I seek comforters for thee?</I> Note, Those that showed
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no pity in the day of their power can expect to find no pity in the day
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of their fall. When those about Nineveh, that had been deceived by her
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wiles, come to be undeceived in her ruin, every one shall insult over
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her, and none bemoan her. This was Nineveh's fate, when she was made a
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spectacle, or gazing-stock. Note, The greater men's show was in the day
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of their abused prosperity the greater will their shame be in the day
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of their deserved destruction. <I>I will make thee an example;</I> so
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Drusus reads it. Note, When proud sinners are humbled and brought down
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it is designed that others should take example by them not to lift up
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themselves in security and insolence when they prosper in the
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world.</P>
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<A NAME="Na3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na3_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Judgment of Nineveh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the
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rivers, <I>that had</I> the waters round about it, whose rampart <I>was</I>
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the sea, <I>and</I> her wall <I>was</I> from the sea?
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9 Ethiopia and Egypt <I>were</I> her strength, and <I>it was</I>
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infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
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10 Yet <I>was</I> she carried away, she went into captivity: her
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young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the
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streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her
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great men were bound in chains.
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11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also
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shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
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12 All thy strong holds <I>shall be like</I> fig trees with the
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first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the
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mouth of the eater.
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13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee <I>are</I> women: the
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gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the
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fire shall devour thy bars.
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14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go
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into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.
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15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee
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off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many
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as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
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16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of
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heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
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17 Thy crowned <I>are</I> as the locusts, and thy captains as the
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great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day,
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<I>but</I> when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not
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known where they <I>are.</I>
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18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall
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dwell <I>in the dust:</I> thy people is scattered upon the mountains,
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and no man gathereth <I>them.</I>
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19 <I>There is</I> no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous:
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all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee:
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for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Nineveh has been told that God is against her, and then none can be for
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her, to stand her in any stead; yet she sets God himself at defiance,
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and his power and justice, and says, <I>I shall have peace.</I>
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Threatened folks live long; therefore here the prophet largely shows
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how vain her confidences would prove and insufficient to ward off the
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judgment of God. To convince them of this,</P>
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<P>
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I. He shows them that other places, which had been as strong and as
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secure as they, could not keep their ground against the judgments of
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God. Nineveh shall fall unpitied and uncomforted (for miserable
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comforters will those prove who speak peace to those on whom God will
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fasten trouble), and she shall not be able to help herself: <I>Art thou
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better than populous No?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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He takes them off from their vain confidences by quoting precedents.
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The city mentioned is <I>No,</I> a great city in the land of Egypt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+46:25">Jer. xlvi. 25</A>),
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<I>No-Ammon,</I> so some read it both there and here. We read of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+30:14-16">Ezek. xxx. 14-16</A>.
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Some think it was <I>Diospolis,</I> others <I>Alexandria.</I> As God
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said to Jerusalem, <I>Go, see what I did to Shiloh</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:12">Jer. vii. 12</A>),
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so to Nineveh that great city, <I>Go, see what I did to populous
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No.</I> Note, It will help to keep us in a holy fear of the judgments
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of God to consider that we are not better than those that have fallen
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under those judgments before us. We deserve them as much, and are as
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little able to grapple with them. This also should help to reconcile us
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to afflictions. Are we better than such and such, who were in like
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manner exercised? Nay, were not they better than we, and less likely to
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be afflicted? Now, concerning No, observe,
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1. How firm her standing seemed to be,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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She was fortified both by nature and art, was <I>situate among the
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rivers.</I> Nile, in several branches, not only watered her fields, but
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guarded her wall. <I>Her rampart was the sea,</I> the <I>lake of
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Mareotis,</I> an Egyptian sea, like the sea of Tiberias. Her <I>wall
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was from the sea;</I> it was fenced with a wall which was thought to
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make the place impregnable. It was also supported by its interests and
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alliances abroad,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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<I>Ethiopia,</I> or Arabia, <I>was her strength,</I> either by the
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wealth brought to her in a way of trade or by the auxiliary forces
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furnished for military service. The whole country of Egypt also
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contributed to the strength of this populous city; so that it was
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<I>infinite, and there was no end of it</I> (so it might be rendered);
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She set no bounds to her ambition and knew no end of her wealth and
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strength; people flocked to her endlessly, and she thought there never
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would be any end of it; but it is God's prerogative to be infinite.
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<I>Put and Lubim were thy helpers,</I> two neighbouring countries of
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Africa, Mauritania and Libya, that is, Libya Cyrenica, a country that
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Egypt had much dependence upon. No, thus helped, seemed to sit as a
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queen, and was not likely to see any sorrow. But,
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2. See how fatal her fall proved to be
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>Yet was she carried away,</I> and her strength failed her; even she
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that was so strong, so secure, yet <I>went into captivity.</I> This
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refers to some destruction of that city which was then well-known, and
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probably fresh in memory, though not recorded in history; for the
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destruction of it by Nebuchadnezzar (if we should understand this
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prophetically) could not be made an example to Nineveh; for the
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reducing of Nineveh was one of the first of his victories and that of
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Egypt one of the last. The strength and grandeur of that great city
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could not be its protection from military execution.
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(1.) Not from that which was most barbarous; for <I>her young
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children</I> had no compassion shown them, but were <I>dashed in pieces
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at the top of all the streets</I> by the merciless conquerors.
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(2.) Not from that which was most inglorious and disgraceful: <I>They
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cast lots for her honourable men</I> that were made prisoners of war,
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who should have them for their slaves. So many had they of them that
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they knew not what to do with them, but they made sport with throwing
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dice for them; <I>all her great men,</I> that used to be adorned on
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state-days with chains of gold, <I>were</I> now <I>bound in chains of
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iron;</I> they were <I>pinioned</I> or <I>handcuffed</I> (so the word
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properly signifies), not only as slaves, but as condemned malefactors.
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What a mortification was this to <I>populous No,</I> to have her
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honourable men and great men, that were her pride and confidence, thus
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abused! Now hence he infers against Nineveh
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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"Thou also shalt be intoxicated, infatuated; thou also shalt reel and
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stagger, as drunk with the cup of the Lord's fury, that shall be put
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into thy hand" (see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:17,27">Jer. xxv. 17, 27</A>);
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"<I>Thou shalt fall and rise no more.</I> The cup shall go round, and
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come to thy turn, O Nineveh! to drink off at last, and shall be to thee
|
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as the waters of jealousy."</P>
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<P>
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II. He shows them that all those things which they reposed a confidence
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in should fail them.
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1. Did the men of Nineveh trust to their own magnanimity and bravery?
|
|
Their hearts should sink and fail them. <I>They shall be hid,</I>
|
|
shall abscond for shame, being in disgrace, abscond for fear, being in
|
|
distress and danger, and not able to face the enemies, because of whose
|
|
strength and terror, having no strength of their own, they shall
|
|
<I>seek strength,</I> shall come sneaking to their neighbours to beg
|
|
their assistance in a time of need. Thus God can <I>cut off the
|
|
spirit</I> of princes, and <I>take away their heart.</I>
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|
|
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2. Did they depend upon their barrier, the garrisons and strongholds
|
|
they had, which were regularly fortified and bravely manned? Those
|
|
shall prove but paper-walls, and <I>like the first-ripe figs,</I>
|
|
which, if you give the tree but a little shake, will <I>fall into the
|
|
mouth of the eater</I> that gapes for them; so easily will all their
|
|
strongholds be made to surrender to the advancing enemy, upon the first
|
|
summons,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
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|
Note, Strongholds, even the strongest, are no fence against the
|
|
judgments of God, when they come with commission. <I>The rich man's
|
|
wealth is his strong city, and a high wall,</I> but only <I>in his own
|
|
conceit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:10">Prov. xviii. 10</A>.
|
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|
They are supposed to make their strongholds as strong as possible, and
|
|
are challenged to do their utmost to make them tenable, and serviceable
|
|
to them against the invader
|
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
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<I>Draw thee water for the siege;</I> lay in great quantities of water,
|
|
that that which is so necessary to the support of human life may not be
|
|
wanting; it is put here for all manner of provision, with which Nineveh
|
|
is ironically told to furnish herself, in expectation of a siege. "Take
|
|
ever so much care that thou mayest not be starved out, and forced by
|
|
famine to surrender, yet that shall not avail. <I>Fortify the
|
|
strongholds,</I> by adding out-works to them, or putting men and arms
|
|
into them," as with us by planting cannon upon them. "<I>Go into clay,
|
|
and tread the mortar,</I> and <I>make strong the brick-kiln;</I> take
|
|
all the pains thou canst in erecting new fortifications; but it shall
|
|
be all in vain, for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
there shall even <I>the fire devour thee</I> if it be taken by storm."
|
|
It is by fire and sword that in time of war the great devastations are
|
|
made.
|
|
|
|
3. Did they put confidence in the multitude of their inhabitants? Were
|
|
they, from their number and valour, reckoned their strongest walls and
|
|
fortifications? Alas! these shall stand them in no stead; they shall
|
|
but sink the sooner under the weight of their own numbers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy people in the midst of thee are women;</I> they have no wisdom,
|
|
no courage; they shall be fickle, feeble, and faint-hearted, as women
|
|
commonly are in such times of danger and distress; they shall be at
|
|
their wits' end, adding to their griefs and fears by the power of their
|
|
own imagination, and utterly unable to do any thing for themselves; the
|
|
valiant men shall become cowards. <I>O verè Phrygiæ, neque
|
|
enim Phryges</I>--<I>Phrygian dames, not Phrygian men.</I> Though they
|
|
<I>make themselves many</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
as the <I>canker-worm</I> and <I>as the locust,</I> that come in vast
|
|
swarms, <I>though thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of
|
|
heaven,</I> though thy exchange be thronged with wealthy traders, who,
|
|
having so much money to stand up in defence of and so much to lay out
|
|
in the means of their defence, should, one would think, give the enemy
|
|
a warm reception, yet their hearts shall fail them too; though they be
|
|
numerous as caterpillars, yet the fire and sword shall eat them up
|
|
easily and irresistibly as the canker-worm,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are as numerous as those wasting insects, but their enemies shall
|
|
be mischievous like them. He adds
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The canker-worm spoils,</I> or <I>spreads herself, and flies
|
|
away.</I> Both the merchants and the enemies were compared to
|
|
canker-worms. The enemies shall spoil Nineveh, and carry away the
|
|
spoil, without opposition, or any hope of recovering it. Or the rich
|
|
merchants, who have come from abroad to settle in Nineveh, and have
|
|
raised vast estates there, out of which it was hoped they would
|
|
contribute largely for the defence of the city, when they see the
|
|
country invaded and the city likely to be besieged, will send away
|
|
their effects, and remove to some other place, will <I>spread their
|
|
wings</I> and <I>fly away</I> where they may be safe, and Nineveh shall
|
|
be never the better for them. Note, It is rare to find even those that
|
|
have shared with us in our joys willing to share with us in our griefs
|
|
too. The canker-worms will continue upon the field while there is any
|
|
thing to be had, but they are gone when all is gone. Those that men
|
|
have got by they do not care to lose by. Nineveh's merchants bid her
|
|
farewell in her distress. Riches themselves are as the canker-worms,
|
|
which on a sudden <I>fly away as the eagle towards heaven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. Did they put a confidence in the strength of their gates and bars?
|
|
What fence will those be against the force of the judgments of God?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thy enemies,</I>
|
|
the gates of thy rivers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:6"><I>ch.</I> ii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
the flood-gates, or the passes and avenues, by which the enemy would
|
|
make his entrance into the country, or the gates of the cities; these,
|
|
though ever so strong and well-guarded, shall not answer their end:
|
|
<I>The fire shall devour thy bars,</I> the bars of thy gates, and then
|
|
they shall fly open.
|
|
|
|
5. Did they put a confidence in their king and princes? They should do
|
|
them no service
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy crowned heads are as the locusts;</I> those that had pomp and
|
|
power, as crowned heads, were enfeebled, and had no power to make
|
|
resistance, when the enemy came in like a flood. "<I>Thy captains,</I>
|
|
that should lead thy forces into the field, are great indeed, and look
|
|
great, but they are as the great <I>grasshoppers,</I> the <I>maximum
|
|
quod sic--the largest specimens</I> of that <I>species;</I> still they
|
|
are but grasshoppers, worthless things, that can do no service. <I>They
|
|
encamp in the hedges, in the cold day,</I> the cold weather, <I>but,
|
|
when the sun arises, they flee away,</I> and are gone, nobody knows
|
|
whither. So these mercenary soldiers that lay slumbering about Nineveh,
|
|
when any trouble arises, flee away, and shift for their own safety.
|
|
<I>The hireling flees, because he is a hireling.</I>" The <I>king of
|
|
Assyria</I> is told, and it is a shame he needs to be told it (who
|
|
might observe it himself), that <I>his shepherds slumber;</I> they have
|
|
no life or spirit to appear for the flock, and are very remiss in the
|
|
discharge of the duty of their place and the trust reposed in them: Thy
|
|
<I>nobles shall dwell in the dust,</I> and be buried in silence.
|
|
|
|
6. Did they hope that they should yet recover themselves and rally
|
|
again? In this also they should be disappointed; for, when the
|
|
shepherds are smitten, the <I>sheep are scattered;</I> the people are
|
|
dispersed <I>upon the mountains</I> and <I>no man gathers them,</I> nor
|
|
will they ever come together of themselves, but will wander endlessly,
|
|
as scattered sheep do. The judgment they are under is as a wound, and
|
|
it is incurable; there is no relief for it, "<I>no healing of thy
|
|
bruise,</I> no possibility that the wound, which is so grievous and
|
|
painful to thee, should be so much as skinned over; thy case is
|
|
desperate
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+3:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and thy neighbours, instead of lending a hand to help thee, shall
|
|
<I>clap their hands over thee,</I> and triumph in thy fall; and the
|
|
reason is, because thou hast been one way or other injurious to them
|
|
all: <I>Upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?</I> Thou
|
|
hast been always doing mischief to those about thee; there is none of
|
|
them but what thou hast abused and insulted; and therefore they shall
|
|
be so far from pitying thee that they shall be glad to see thee
|
|
reckoned with." Note, Those that have been abusive to their neighbours
|
|
will, one time or another, find it come home to them; they are but
|
|
preparing enemies to themselves against their day comes to fall: and
|
|
those that dare not lay hands on them themselves will <I>clap their
|
|
hands over them,</I> and upbraid them with their former wickedness, for
|
|
which they are now well enough served and paid in their own coin.
|
|
<I>The troublers shall be troubled</I> will be the burden of many, as
|
|
it is here <I>the burden of Nineveh.</I></P>
|
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